What do you want an electric car to do? Better question--what do you want YOUR electric car to do? Zip around and make you look cool? There's a Tesla for that. Practical wagon / hatchback that you can use for slightly longer range trips? VW e-Golf, Nissan Leaf, or Kia Soul EV. Small, practical, extremely economical run-around car for errands with the kids and groceries that's also pretty fun to drive? This Mitsubishi i MiEV, Spark EV, and Fiat 500e. For a cost-effective answer in this last category, I don't think you can beat the i MiEV, depending on the price you can pick one up for. A few weeks ago, we bought a '16 after trying and crunching numbers on several of the other cars listed above. Was it the best? Depends. Was it the most acceleration and range and best handling? Clearly not. Was it the most economical EV option we could find? Definitely. We got ours for what we think was a screaming deal (especially including the up-to-$7500 tax credit: check your own tax situation before you assume a $7500 rebate on the price of the car...) and it fits precisely what we need / want it for. We have an amazing charging network around us and, yes, we wish our iMiEV would go farther and charge faster, but we weren't even considering roughly double the net price (after the tax rebate) for things that for us are pretty marginal considerations. I'm risk tolerant and have already pushed the limits of range and proximity to a charging network when I've traveled solo (without family). If you're using this to bop around town or for a reasonable-length daily commute as a second "utility" family car, I simply don't think you can beat the economics of the i MiEV it if you get it at the right price. Charing overnight at home via the included charger isn't elegant, but it works fine and this car isn't really about elegant. The included CHAdeMO fast charger is a boon for the unlikely / rare occasions when you'll want to go beyond its range (for me, driving it back home from the dealer many times farther away than the car's range--adventure!). For what *we* need it for, the reduced range affects us not at all. Although it's pretty darn fun to drive, it's not a Tesla roadster or even anything that imitates a sportscar. It's not meant for a cross-country road trip (though as I've mentioned, I've already dabbled a little in that) as it's pretty obviously only a second car unless you live in an urban area and don't intend to venture far from it with the iMiEV. If it's about $/kWh and the associated $/electrical mile traveled (including cost of vehicle...), this would seem to win hands down. If you want a sporty car that makes heads turn and goes 200+ miles on a charge, get a Tesla...or wait and pay whatever they're going to fetch for the upcoming 200-ish mile range cars (range ~= battery capacity ~= cost...), but that's the tradeoff--it's unlikely there's going to be a free lunch (i.e. a 200-mile range car priced similarly to a current 80-mile range car). The i MiEV is shockingly cheap to own and operate (again, depending on the net price you pay). Pun intended. $xx,xxx cost - up to $7,500 in federal tax credit - possibly $y,yyyy in state tax rebate = $z,zzz. What, really? A new EV car for a net of $z,zzz? I'll take one, please...

I don't know what car The Edmunds reviewers drove, however, I have owned this car for 16 months and it is one of the best cars I have owned! It has a lot better acceleration than my 1988 Honda CRX and yet has 20 cu ft more storage area than a Nissan Leaf (50 cu ft with the back seats down). You sit high and the center of gravity is low so driving this vehicle is a delight! My wife an I found that more than 95% of our driving each day requires less than the 64 mile range limit of this vehicle. From great visibility to its heated front seats this can be the car for most people. It has high safety ratings and has been sold world wide since 2012... this is not a test... this is the real thing! In WA State there is no sales tax on an electric vehicle of this price and we were able to take advantage of the federal tax rebate of $7500 making this car $15,000. It has three drive modes. Most of the reviews must have been in the Eco mode whereas I drive almost exclusively in the B (for Blast) mode that gives me acceleration when I want it and is the most aggressive in recharging the batter when I let up on the accelerator or hit the brakes. You have to try this car for yourself, I know you'll love it.